The few points available in the sprint means these short races historically haven’t mattered too much to the title table.

Unless, of course, the championship is separated by only one point.

And unless, of course, one title contender fails to finish while the other wins.

Lando Norris’s determined victory on a morning Oscar Piastri crashed out in slippery conditions added eight points to the Englishman’s lead, more than the difference between first and second.

Assuming Norris, who is in cooly imperious form this weekend, wins the grand prix, he could end up doing at least two grands prix worth of damage to his teammate in a single round.

THE ANATOMY OF TITLE-CHANGING CRASH

The heavy overnight rain had almost entirely dried in time for the sprint race to start, enough that everyone star

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